The 25 best college football teams to not win a national championship

Best college football teams without a national championship: 1980 Pittsburgh Panthers

Legendary coach Jackie Sherrill led Pittsburgh to an impressive 50-9 record during his five years with the Panthers. He came up just short of national championships in both 1980 and 1981. The aforementioned blowout loss to Penn State in 1981 caused the Panthers to come up short. In 1980, sophomore quarterback Dan Marino nearly led Pitt to the title as well.

Along with Marino, the 1980 Panthers were led by Walter Camp and Maxwell Award-winning defensive end Hugh Green and Outland Trophy-winning offensive tackle Mark May.

Pitt enjoyed a mostly dominant season, winning nine of its 11 games by at least two touchdowns. Their one defeat occurred in October when the Panthers fell 36-22 to Florida State. Pitt bounced back, however, and won its final six games of the regular season. That included impressive wins over Tennessee in Knoxville and a 14-9 win over rival Penn State in Happy Valley.

The Panthers ultimately ended up in the Gator Bowl as the No. 3 ranked team in the country, easily dismantling No. 18 South Carolina 37-9 down in Jacksonville.

Advanced metrics loved Pitt in 1980, with Sagarin, in particular, ranking the Panthers as college football’s top team. Undefeated Georgia ultimately walked away with the national championship that season, which remains the last time the Bulldogs have captured the crown.